Mobile Future U Gundam
by Seraphilim
Summary: It is Solar Year 2421... the growing conflict between the Earth Republic and the New Combine has reached a low point. A young woman from an outlying colony becomes a vital key to the outcome of this war...
1. Episode 1

Mobile Future U-Gundam  
  
By Seraphilim  
  
In Solar Year 2300, overpopulation threatened the future of humanity on Earth, and people moved to space to live in "colonies" that orbit the Earth. Humanity thrived for over a hundred years before tensions arose between colonists and mother Earth. A radical space group, called the Neo Combine, has rallied support and pledges of allegiance from numerous colonies. Within two decades, the Combine had grown to a formidable nation, holding over half of the colonial population in its grasp. The Earth Republic, having attempted non-violent resolutions to the Combine's rebellious activities, began to use decisive force to combat the colonial revolutionaries. Within a month, half of the space colonies had been ravaged or destroyed, numerous cities on Earth had been demolished, and over five billion people killed in the name of "revolution" or "unity". The war continued on into the new century, with both sides unwilling to give any ground. In the minds of some of the leaders of the two factions, there was no neutral ground. You were either with, or against, the revolution.  
  
It is now Solar Year 2421. The farthest colony from Earth, New Geneva, is about to become a historical event in the history of this war…  
  
---  
  
"Rachel."  
  
"…"  
  
"Rachel. Wake up."  
  
"…"  
  
"Rachel! It's eleven o'clock in the morning! Wake UP!"  
  
Light filtered through the window. In the small room, a young girl sleepily awoke to find her mother standing over her, a cross look on her face.  
  
"Rachel. Just because you are a teenager, doesn't mean you have to act like one and sleep in all the time! You have many more useful things you could be doing instead. Now get up, and get dressed. You missed breakfast, so you'll have to settle for cereal."  
  
Rachel Lanson stared blankly at her mother, not registering what she was saying immediately. Once it clicked, she nodded.  
  
"'Kay, Mom."  
  
Her mother gave her a little smile, and then left the room. Alone, the dark-skinned teenager swung her legs out from under the sheets, and sat up on the side of the bed. She rubbed her eyes with one hand to get the sleep out from them. Yawning, she stood and let the blue and white blanket fall to the bed. Still tired, Rachel shuffled to the bathroom and took a brief shower.  
  
Feeling more awake, she brushed her teeth, combed her hair, and went through all the things a normal girl at her age would do. Returning to her room, she tossed the pink pajamas she was wearing into the hamper, and dressed herself in a set of pink underwear, a v-cut white shirt, long black shorts that reached her shins, and a black sweater with a white hood. Going to her dresser, she retrieved her pink hairclip from it, and pinned up her hair into a ponytail. Finally, she donned a pair of white socks, and then pulled on a pair of black and white sneakers. After fastening the straps on her shoes, she headed downstairs for breakfast, her usual bowl of corn/wheat cereal.  
  
---  
  
A mile outside of the colony, a medium-sized warship floated in the darkness of space. It was a dark gray color, with a long main hull and two engines placed to the sides and back of the main part of the ship. A hatch on the nose of the ship opened, and five large objects were shot forth from the depths of the ship in the direction of New Geneva. The objects, which now resembled mobile suits, slowed down as they neared the colony, and continued the rest of their trip at a much lower pace. Each mobile suits was somewhat tall and thin, with rounded shoulder armor and a noticeable thruster-pack mounted on their backs. They each carried a sizable 100mm primer-based rifle. On each MS's head, there was a visor where eyes would be on a person, and two long horns jutted back from the sides of the heads where ears normally would be. Below the visor-sensors, the mouth area was flat, yet with a single pointed extrusion in the chin area.  
  
---  
  
They arrived alongside the colony and found an airlock. The leader began to cut it open with a large blowtorch-type of tool.  
  
---  
  
An hour later, Rachel found herself walking down the street towards the space docks. She'd heard yesterday from a friend of hers from high school that a new ship was coming in. Odd for a teenaged girl, Rachel was fascinated by spaceships and other spacecraft, including the recent "mobile suit". That especially interested her. Being a science genius at school, the fact that these machines were so human-like in appearance and movement, and managed to perform tasks that normal machines couldn't, intrigued her greatly. She wished she was a few years older, so she could get into the military or a flight school to pilot one, just once, to experience it first-hand.  
  
As she neared the docks, Rachel stumbled across two of her friends from high school: Gustav Stephens and Emiko Mitsuishi. Both were standing by the gates leading to the docks. Gustav was the first to speak, as he ran a hand through his short blond hair.  
  
"Hey, Rachel. I was wondering when you'd show up."  
  
Rachel gave a little wave as she neared them.  
  
"Hi guys. What're you doing here?"  
  
Emi placed a hand on her hip, and cocked her head, allowing her long and luxurious blue hair to fall over her shoulder.  
  
"Well, we know you well enough to know you'd come here today, after Gus here told you that the new ship his father's on was coming in."  
  
Rachel rubbed the back of her head.  
  
"Ehehehe… I'm that predictable?"  
  
Both Gustav and Emi looked at each other, then back at Rachel.  
  
"Yup."  
  
Rachel held up both hands in defeat. Laughing, Gustav walked through the open gate, showing the guard his pass.  
  
"These two are with me, Max."  
  
The guard looked the trio over, and tipped his helmet up and smiled.  
  
"No problem, Gus. Say hi to your pops for me."  
  
"Will do, Max. See you later."  
  
The trio of teenagers continued on into the docks themselves, where several commercial ships were, well, docked. On the far side, Rachel could see two distinctly military ships had just arrived, judging by the activity near them.  
  
One she recognized as an Earth Republic Tendra-class warship, but the second was a new line of warship that she'd never seen before. It was larger than the Tendra, and was also longer. It was colored gray and blue, and the main hull had a small control tower centered on top. Two smaller hulls extended back from the sides, with engines on the rear ends. The main hull was wider in the back, where a lot of the activity was going on. Gustav whistled.  
  
"Whoa. Dad described the thing to me, but I didn't picture THIS."  
  
Emi folding her arms across her ample chest and frowned.  
  
"It looks like just another warship, or something."  
  
Gustav pointed at a particular part of the ship; though neither of the girls could figure exactly what it was he was he was trying to point out.  
  
"Well, it's a warship alright. But, this one is different. It has a much larger hangar than others, so it's more like a carrier than a battleship. Those engines, according to Dad, are supposedly powerful enough to let this thing exit Earth's gravity on it's own, which is pretty impressive. The Tendras can't do that. They need a booster to escape gravity. There was a bunch of other stuff Dad told me, but I don't remember too much of it. I'll ask when we see him."  
  
The three teens continued their wanderings around the ship, until Rachel heard a familiar voice.  
  
"Rachel! What are you doing here?"  
  
Rachel turned to see her mother, Westa Lanson, decked out in a Republic uniform, with a clipboard in hand. Westa was surprised that her daughter would be here; nobody was allowed into the docks without a special pass.  
  
Rachel gave a little wave.  
  
"Hi, Mom."  
  
---  
  
The airlock was finally opened. Opening his comm line, the lead pilot gave his orders.  
  
"Gates, you stay here. The others will come with me. Understood?"  
  
A chorus of acknowledgements responded.  
  
"Right. Let's go."  
  
Four of the red MS entered the airlock, and the last took a guard position nearby.  
  
Within a few minutes, all four had entered the colony through the other end of the airlock. Landing in a forest area, the leader was happy to note that he could see the docks from where they were. Lifting his rifle to the MS's "face", he peered through the scope towards the docks. He spotted both the Tendra and the new warship.  
  
"Bingo."  
  
---  
  
"How did you get… oh, I see."  
  
Westa recognized Rachel's friend, Gustav, as the son of Lieutenant Hal Stephens. Westa sighed and crossed her arms, tapping the clipboard against her side.  
  
"Rachel, I don't mind you coming here, but next time, mind telling me first?"  
  
Rachel grinned sheepishly.  
  
"Yeah, sorry Mom. I'll remember that."  
  
"Good. Well, we're pretty much finished with the loading, so I guess I could give you three a little tour aboard the Unity."  
  
Gustav's eyes shined in delight.  
  
"Really, Mrs. Lanson!?"  
  
Westa turned and began walking towards the ship's hangar.  
  
"Sure. Come on, kids."  
  
The three trailed after her. Emiko called out a question to Westa.  
  
"What's Unity?"  
  
"It's this ship. First of its kind."  
  
The four of them entered the Unity's hangar. Inside, Rachel immediately noticed something: mobile suits. Four. She recognized two as the Republic's mainstay Dray mass-production mobile suits, but the other two were distinctly different. Gustav made his amazement vocal.  
  
"Wow."  
  
Westa grinned as she hooked a thumb towards the two special MS.  
  
"What do you think? These are prototypes of our new weapon to defeat those Combine rebels. It's called Gundam."  
  
Rachel stared silently at the white and purple MS on the right.  
  
"Gundam…"  
  
---  
  
Episode One, Complete 


	2. Episode 2

Lt. Neal couldn't believe his team's luck. Not only had they infiltrated the colony completely unnoticed in their Guar mobile suits, but also the dock where that new Rep ship was moored was not more than a half-mile from their position.  
  
"I love my job sometimes."  
  
Neal loaded a large canister into his rifle's secondary barrel. Cocking the rifle as his Guar kneeled on the ground, he aimed at the docks.  
  
"Sir, you've got one shot at this before they discover us."  
  
"I know that, Yeager. You guys just stay put until I fire, then we'll storm the castle. Yeager, you and Shade are the key here."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
Neal concentrated on the task at hand. Finding the bunker where the defense guns probably were situated at, he fired the rocket-propelled grenade.  
  
It took less than five seconds for the bunker to explode in a massive chain reaction as the ammunition in the building cooked off from the grenade.  
  
"Okay, let's go!"  
  
The four red Guars burst out of the forest, bee-lining for the ship-docks.  
  
---  
  
The explosion grabbed everyone's attention in the docks. Emiko was the first to voice a reaction.  
  
"Wha… what was THAT!?"  
  
Westa clenched her hands around the clipboard.  
  
"Dammit. It's the Combine. Rachel, you and your friends, get on the ship. The nearest shelter is too far from here. If anyone asks, tell them it's by my order."  
  
"What about you, Mom?"  
  
"I've got to get the dock workers to safety too. Hurry!"  
  
Rachel, Gustav and Emiko ran to the door leading into the ship Westa stared after them, before she took charge of the growing chaos in the docks.  
  
---  
  
On the Bridge of the Unity, Captain Galun Lufas was standing in front of his command chair, barking out orders.  
  
"Ra Mira Luna! Contact Lieutenant Ramsad and tell him to deploy in the Drays! Haruto, how many Combine MS are there!?"  
  
As the operator got in contact with the MS commander, Haruto Langra checked his own sensors.  
  
"We've got four enemy contacts, Captain! All Guar-types!"  
  
Galun gave a low growl. Typical. The Combine would attack when they were docked in an isolated colony. He'd told his superiors that fact, but they'd forced him to go through with this. Now the inhabitants of this colony would suffer the consequences.  
  
---  
  
As Rachel reached the door, two men in Republic pilot suits rushed out, almost knocking her over. She watched as they ran to the two Drays, and took the lifts up to the cockpits. Gustav looked worried.  
  
"That's not gonna be enough. I saw at least four Guars out there… and they're stronger than Drays."  
  
Emiko pulled on his arm.  
  
"Come on, these guys know what they're doing. Let's get inside!"  
  
"Okay…"  
  
The three entered the ship. Rachel paused to look back as the two MS marched out of the hangar. Gustav and Emiko were headed further into the ship and to safety, so impulsively Rachel turned around and went back out into the hangar. She didn't understand fully why she wanted to go back out there. All she knew was that "something" told her she needed to do this…  
  
---  
  
Inside the first Dray, a dark-skinned man with short-cropped hair spoke into his headset.  
  
"This is Lieutenant Ramsad. We're moving to intercept."  
  
Ra Mira's voice came back over the comm.  
  
"Understood, Lieutenant. You've got four Guars out there. Be careful."  
  
"Right. Mark, let's stick together and take them out one by one."  
  
"Yes Sir!"  
  
The two Drays, with 110mm machineguns in hand, charged at the nearest Guar. The enemy pilot noticed them, and jetted backwards, while he fired his rifle in response.  
  
---  
  
Galun sat back down in his chair. He turned to Ra Mira.  
  
"Lt. Luna, have the other two pilots returned from the city yet?"  
  
Ra Mira checked. She faced Galun with a shake of her head.  
  
"Not yet. Lt. Kramer called in that they were heading back just a minute ago."  
  
---  
  
Rachel climbed the ladder up to the catwalk that ran between the Gundams. Nobody stopped her, for the hangar was nearly empty. Only two workers remained, and they were busy watching the battle outside. Reaching the top, she turned to look out at the ongoing battle. The two Drays had descended upon a hapless Guar, and were quickly overpowering it. The leader dodged a clumsy shot from the Guar, and rushed in to plunge his hard saber into the cockpit.  
  
---  
  
Lt. JG Ernest Yeager saw the two Drays counterattacking, but he was too far to help when they killed his squad-mate.  
  
"Nicholas!"  
  
The second occupant in his Guar grabbed his arm before he did something rash.  
  
"Ernest, it's too late! Let's hurry to the docks and get those new mobile suits. Neal can take care of this."  
  
"Ngggh… Right, Lanarow. Get ready to get out once I land close enough."  
  
Ernest continued on to the docks, as Lt. Neal and the other remaining Guar engaged the two Drays.  
  
---  
  
As Gustav hurried down the corridor with Emiko, he noticed something strange. He could only hear two pairs of footsteps. He turned back and realized with trepidation that Rachel was no longer with them.  
  
"Oh, no. She didn't."  
  
Emiko quickly caught on to what Gustav was saying.  
  
"You don't think she went back to do… THAT?"  
  
Gustav looked around, and found a lift nearby.  
  
"Let's head up to the observation deck. We can see what's going on from there."  
  
The two got in the lift, and Gustav hit the button to take them up.  
  
---  
  
In the second Dray, Ensign Mark Gilder faced off with one of the Guars as Lt. Ramsad dealt with the leader.  
  
"Keep it together, Mark. One-on-one. You're good at this."  
  
The Guar raised its rifle and fired. Mark blocked the shot with the forearm shield, and returned fire with his machinegun. He grinned in satisfaction as the shots peppered the Guar legs.  
  
"Come on, give me a challenge!"  
  
---  
  
Ramsad charged, hard saber at ready. The leader Guar, its own plasma sword drawn, parried Ramsad's first slash. Sidestepping to the right, Ramsad made another slash, low, but it was also blocked by the Guar.  
  
In response, the Guar activated its thrusters to go slightly up and come down hard with the plasma sword. Ramsad raised his saber and blocked, but the impact knocked him off balance.  
  
"Shit!"  
  
The Guar didn't pause a second, and spun to lop off the Dray's left forearm. Ramsad attempted to compensate, and turned to face his opponent. He noticed something out of the corner of his eye.  
  
The last Guar was headed for the docks.  
  
"Captain! You've got…!"  
  
Ramsad was cut off out as the Guar blew his cockpit apart with its rifle.  
  
---  
  
Neal sneered as he kicked over the now-dead Dray.  
  
"Don't trust your opponent to fight fairly, Rep."  
  
He looked over as Ernest's Guar landed next to the docks.  
  
"Excellent."  
  
As he turned his attention to the last Dray, he noticed something. A military vehicle was speeding towards the docks. Neal grinned sadistically as he locked-on to the little jeep and fired.  
  
---  
  
"Lieutenant!"  
  
Mark was in a bad situation. Two Guars were actively hostile and near him, and the third was near the docks: obviously after the Gundams. Facing the two Guars, Mark started to jet backwards, raining suppression fire on the two Combine MS.  
  
"Come on, come on!"  
  
He wondered if Kramer and Toshiro had managed to get back to the ship.  
  
---  
  
Rachel gasped in surprise as the Guar landed right in front of the docks. The two military workers, realizing what was going on, drew their handguns and took cover, while Rachel ran towards one of the Gundams to hide.  
  
"This doesn't look very good…"  
  
---  
  
Ernest stopped the Guar, and popped the hatch. Lanarow headed out first with the assault rifle, and Ernest joined him quickly, holding a handgun.  
  
"See anyone?"  
  
"I saw two dockworkers. They were wearing military-issue uniforms, though."  
  
"Probably guards. Keep behind cover, and head for the MS on the right, I'll take the left."  
  
"Right."  
  
The two Combine soldiers headed for the Unity's hangar.  
  
---  
  
"Captain, I've lost contact with Lt. Ramsad. I've also lost contact with Lt. Kramer."  
  
Galun balled his hands into fists.  
  
"Bloody hell. What else can go wrong?"  
  
Ra Mira blanched as she listened in on her headset.  
  
"Captain… we've got intruders in the hangar. They're after the Gundams!"  
  
"…****. Get a security team down there now!!"  
  
"Sir!"  
  
---  
  
The guards opened fire as Ernest neared a large container. He ducked and rolled behind it as he snapped off two quick return shots.  
  
"Lanarow! Heads up!"  
  
Lanarow was taking cover by a lift-fork. He peeked over the lever-board as he saw one of the guards stand and fire at Ernest. Without hesitation, he gunned down the guard before ducking down again.  
  
"Ernest, we've gotta hurry! They're probably sending a security team down!"  
  
---  
  
Rachel reached the white and purple Gundam when she turned and saw the first guard had been killed. She gasped involuntarily.  
  
"Oh god…"  
  
Shaken by actually seeing someone getting killed in front of her, she fumbled at the lift controls before she hit the UP button to bring the lift up to her.  
  
"Please hurry…"  
  
---  
  
Ernest dashed out from behind the container and headed for the doors of the hangar. Lanarow ran out to follow, spraying cover fire at the last guard.  
  
But, he was too slow. The second guard managed to squeeze off a shot before Lanarow's bullets tore through him. Lanarow saw Ernest stumble and keel over.  
  
"Ernest!!"  
  
Dropping the rifle, he rushed to his friend's side. He saw that the bullet had taken him in the side. Ernest groaned.  
  
"Damn, that hurts…"  
  
"Shit, man. How bad does it hurt? It doesn't like it hit anything vital…"  
  
"It hurts, but I think I can deal with it…"  
  
Lanarow looked up and around. None of the Republic soldiers had arrived, yet. But, he noticed the lift for one of the MS was moving up.  
  
"Get back to the Guar, Ernest. I'll take one of these new suits, and I'll destroy the other one."  
  
"Neal won't be happy about that."  
  
Lanarow helped Ernest to his feet as the latter pulled a gauze patch from one of his suit pockets and applied it to his wound; the blood immediately began to slowly seep through.  
  
"Neither would he be happy to know his best wingman got gunned down by a damn dock worker! Now, go!"  
  
Seeing that Ernest was able to stand and walk on his own, Lanarow turned and headed for the two Republic mobile suits. He reached the lift, and punched the UP button. Looking over at the other mobile suit, he saw someone stepping onto the lift from the catwalk that ran behind and between the mobile suits.  
  
"I knew it…"  
  
He drew his handgun, and clicked off the safety.  
  
---  
  
Rachel stepped onto the lift as it reached her. She turned and pressed the DOWN button to take the lift down to the cockpit of the Gundam. It reached the cockpit quickly, and she reached over and pressed the button to open the cockpit hatch. Luckily, the unlock code seemed to have already been put in by one of the workers, else Rachel would have been in some serious trouble.  
  
As the hatch opened, she heard a click sound behind her.  
  
"Freeze."  
  
Barely registering the word, Rachel spun and found herself facing a young man, not much older than herself, standing on the other lift and training a small handgun on her. He was wearing a black and red Combine pilot suit, and his large green eyes peered at her from underneath his brown bangs and gray bandanna.  
  
"The hell… you're no Republic soldier."  
  
Rachel narrowed her eyes.  
  
"So? I'm not just going to stand here and let you people attack my home!"  
  
---  
  
Lanarow grit his teeth as he reached over to open the other suit's hatch.  
  
"This is war, dammit! Shit happens! Deal with it!"  
  
The civilian girl turned away from him, and began to climb into the cockpit. She looked over her shoulder.  
  
"This is how I'm dealing with it."  
  
Lanarow pulled back the hammer on the gun, even though he felt that he couldn't pull the trigger.  
  
"Don't make me shoot you!"  
  
Suddenly, he heard several gunshots, and bullets ricocheted off the two mobile suits.  
  
"Stop right there, Commie scum!"  
  
Lanarow leapt into the cockpit of the second mobile suit without hesitation, as the security team that just arrived fired again. He closed the hatch as he sat in the pilot seat, and started up the systems.  
  
"Dammit. Now I'm probably going to have to kill her. And she was cute, too…"  
  
He glanced at the status screen and read the model number of the mobile suit.  
  
"ERMG-02-C Gundam Crusade. Heh. Crusade. How fitting."  
  
---  
  
Diving into the Gundam, Rachel slapped the hatch button, closing it.  
  
"Crap. They probably think I'm one of the rebels!"  
  
She adjusted herself in the seat, and started up the Gundam. She examined the status screen as the model number ran across.  
  
"ERMG-01-U Unity Gundam… like the ship…"  
  
---  
  
Both Gundams began moving at almost the same time. The security team leader, knowing their weapons couldn't do anything, called in on his radio as his men took cover.  
  
"Bridge! Both Gundams have been hijacked! I repeat! Both Gundams have been hijacked! Over!"  
  
---  
  
Episode Two, Complete 


	3. Episode 3

With a grunt, Mark landed hard after blocking a full round of machinegun fire from the Guar leader. He'd been holding his own against the two Guars, but that was it. He had no advantage over them in his mobile suit. Reaching over to the left control panel with a black-gloved hand, he began to click off several safeties. He smirked as he watched the two Guars approach through the flattened forest area they were in, weapons trained on him.  
  
"Let's see if you guys can handle speed…"  
  
Grasping the flight stick firmly with his right hand, Mark let his left hand hover over the lever next to the safeties. He waited for the Guars to make their move.  
  
---  
  
"Sir, the enemy MS has ceased moving. It's just standing there."  
  
Neal frowned. That was odd. The enemy pilot had been putting up a fierce, yet futile, fight up until now. Why would he stop all of a sudden?  
  
"Santiago, keep on your guard. He might be planning something."  
  
He heard Santiago laugh aloud over the comm.  
  
"Sir, with all due respect, there's not a damn thing he can do. I'm going in!"  
  
"Santiago…!"  
  
Neal watched in anger as his subordinate charged the enemy Dray. He followed, albeit at a much more cautious pace.  
  
---  
  
"Captain! The Gundams… they've been…"  
  
Galun stared incredulously at Ra Mira. 'No, they couldn't have been…'  
  
"Sir, the Combine has them…"  
  
Galun spewed several expletives from his mouth, as he pounded a fist on the armrest of his chair. After his short fit, he leaned forward as a growl emitted from his lips.  
  
"Get Dr. Stephens to the bridge. NOW."  
  
---  
  
"Come on, come on, come on... That's it…"  
  
Mark steadied himself as the right Guar charged, drawing its plasma sword, and raising it high above its head. It drew closer, the Guar's long, heavy metal legs smashing into the ground with each step.  
  
"Shell Frame, purge!"  
  
Mark slammed his left hand down on the lever, and the Dray began shaking heavily, the special machinery within beginning to work.  
  
---  
  
"What the hell…?"  
  
Neal stopped his advance. The Dray was beginning to vibrate violently, and the shoulder pads seemed to glow briefly. His eyes widened in shock as he realized the enemy pilot's intent.  
  
"Santiago! It's a self-destruct! Get back!"  
  
The other Guar kept charging, Santiago not heeding his words, and jumped at the Dray. Just as it brought it's sword down to slash, the Dray exploded, covering the Guar in a massive burst of smoke and debris. Something small and black blasted out from within the smoke and zipped over Neal's Guar.  
  
"Holy shit! What was that!?"  
  
Neal turned quickly, and spotted the object that had flown past him. It was a small, black fighter-craft, with swept-forward wings and twin engines below and parallel to the rear rudder fin. It made a seemingly impossible tight Immelmann turn, and charged at Neal. Recovering his senses, he raised his machinegun and fired.  
  
---  
  
"Yahoo! This is more like it!"  
  
Mark maneuvered the Drake fighter left and right, up and down, weaving in and out of the oncoming machinegun fire. He flipped the cover off the top trigger on the flight stick.  
  
"Micro-missiles lock on… Fire!"  
  
Two long tubes adjacent to the cockpit spewed several small pods out, and their tips exploded, letting loose several dozen miniature missiles that veered in towards the two Guars.  
  
---  
  
"Shit! Heads up, Santiago!"  
  
Neal jetted his Guar straight up, and fired down at the cluster of missiles that were tracking him. Luckily, he managed to hit several in the center, and the resulting chain reaction left him free of pursuit.  
  
"Lieu…lieutenant! Help me!!"  
  
"Santiago??"  
  
Neal looked down at where his wingman was, and saw that he had been too slow to avoid the other missiles. He watched helplessly as the other Guar attempted the same trick as Neal did, but was quickly caught on the legs by the first salvo. Without any lift, the Guar fell back down to take the rest of the missiles directly. It exploded before it even hit the ground.  
  
"Dammit Santiago, why didn't you listen to me, you stupid son of a bitch…"  
  
Neal found himself landing back in the town area, the enemy fighter flying a circle around him like a vulture. He glared up at the small fighter.  
  
"Shit. That's not standard issue for Drays. Some sort of test-type? Hey, Ernest! Ernest, you got 'em yet!?"  
  
Neal glanced over at the docks, and saw Ernest's Guar coming towards him.  
  
'The hell…' he thought.  
  
"Ernest, where the **** are the Rep mobile suits!?"  
  
"Lanarow's got one, Sir, and he's going to destroy the other one. I couldn't make it in time to the other one."  
  
Neal considering spitting in disgust, but didn't feel like having it on the inside of his helmet.  
  
"Fine. Help me with this annoying fly, will you?"  
  
He pointed the Guar's left hand at the Rep fighter that was beginning to swoop down.  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
As the small, sleek fighter came in, the two Guars opened fire. And missed. Every single shot. Neal heard Ernest curse.  
  
"God DAMN! How the hell do we hit that thing!?"  
  
Neal checked his time clock.  
  
"Forget it. Once Lanarow gets here, we're pulling out with what we got!"  
  
"Understood."  
  
---  
  
Galun looked over his shoulder as he heard someone enter the bridge of the Unity. There were two people. One he recognized as Hal Stephens, the lead scientist and MS specialist onboard. The second Galun recognized as Westa Lanson, the chief Republic officer at the colony.  
  
"Dr. Stephens."  
  
"Captain."  
  
Standing, Galun walked forward to look out the viewport at Ensign Gilder's running battle with the two Combine mobile suits.  
  
"Dr., I'll be quick. Is there any way to stop the two prototypes? The Combine soldiers have just… liberated them." He almost spat the word 'liberated'.  
  
Hal pushed up his glasses with one finger, and frowned.  
  
"The Gundams were made to take on any possible force. The only thing I could see stopping one is another one."  
  
The Unity's captain turned around.  
  
"What about High-Density Plasma? Would that work?"  
  
Hal involuntarily took a step back. Westa, who also realized the meaning behind Galun's question, burst out in anger.  
  
"Captain! Using a HDP Cannon within a colony!? That's inhuman!"  
  
Galun closed his eyes briefly, before looking at Westa.  
  
"Do you know what those MS can do? HDP is a simple rash compared to the full capabilities of those weapons."  
  
"But…"  
  
Galun turned his gaze to Hal, who looked somewhat ashen in the face.  
  
"Dr., would it work?"  
  
"Theoretically yes… but…"  
  
Galun walked back to his chair, and turned around.  
  
"Haruto! Initiate activation for the HDP Cannon!"  
  
"Ye…yes Sir!"  
  
---  
  
With a sudden burst from it's main thrusters, the Crusade launched from the interior of the space dock, and out to the battle-ravaged city. Following suit, Rachel activated her own thrusters, and flew up into the air to come down just forty meters short of the Crusade. Upon impacting the ground, Rachel was thrown against the restraints, almost crying out as the strap bruised her shoulder.  
  
"Nnnnh… this is not too much different than that power suit we made during the fair last year. But the power is much higher… Can I really handle this?"  
  
Looking over the control panel, she realized with relief that it was almost identical to the standard controls she and her friends had installed in a homemade power suit. Of course, this had extra controls for weapons and other stuff that they didn't have on a simple power suit…  
  
---  
  
Lanarow smiled as he landed. They got one of the prototypes. That's all that mattered.  
  
"Lance! Lanarow, do you read!?"  
  
He heard Ernest's voice over the comm. Looking around, he spotted Ernest's Guar over by the entrance they took into the colony.  
  
"Ernest? Yeah, I'm here."  
  
"We're pulling out for now. Let's go!"  
  
Lance saw Ernest's Guar head into the shaft, just before that black fighter fired on the spot he had just occupied. Reaching over, Lanarow was about to blast up into the air when he heard a voice.  
  
"Wait!!!"  
  
Lanarow stopped. That was…  
  
"No! Why did you follow me!?"  
  
---  
  
Somehow, by chance or some other reason, the two Gundams had a comm. connection. Rachel heard the Combine soldier's angered yell.  
  
"To stop you! I already it before! I will not stand idle while you people do this!"  
  
The other voice came back quickly.  
  
"You're no pilot, no soldier! What do you hope to achieve with this!?"  
  
Rachel was actually at a loss for words at that. She really didn't know. All she knew was she had to try to stop them, that letting them escape was NOT a good thing.  
  
"I don't know. All I know is that I HAVE to stop you!"  
  
---  
  
Lanarow stared. The absurdity of the situation was driving him nuts. This civilian girl, who didn't even know her own reason, was trying to fight HIM, an experienced soldier and pilot.  
  
"You… Who are you?"  
  
The response was somewhat hesitant, but clear.  
  
"Rachel… Lanson."  
  
'Rachel…' thought Lanarow, before replying. "I am Lanarow Shade. Are you seriously going to try and fight me?"  
  
Lanarow knew the answer before Rachel spoke.  
  
"Yes."  
  
He sighed. 'The world's nuts…' Flipping the top off his flight stick, he held a finger over the left red button and pressed it.  
  
The Gundam, following the command from the control stick, reached a hand down to its hip armor, where a hatch opened to pop a cylindrical handle out. Grasping the handle, the Crusade drew its weapon and activated it. From the open end, a long blue plasma blade extended out.  
  
---  
  
Seeing the Crusade draw its weapon, Rachel checked her own controls, and found the correct button to push. The U Gundam bent its wrist, and a sword handle popped out from an underarm sheath into the waiting hand. The weapon activated, a long shaft of purple-white energy appeared from the open end of the cylinder. The U Gundam raised the energy blade, holding it with both hands.  
  
---  
  
"Captain… the Gundams, they're acting odd…"  
  
Ra Mira sounded and looked confused. Galun, along with Hal and Westa, looked out the viewport. The two MS faced off with each other.  
  
"Haruto, stop the HDP activation… we may not need it."  
  
"Yes Sir."  
  
'Maybe the Combine didn't get them both?' thought Galun. 'But, who would be the pilot?'  
  
He continued looking as the horned blue and gold Gundam charged, its Plasma Blade at ready.  
  
---  
  
Episode Three, Complete 


End file.
